1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 1035 Field Investigation
"I agree with the combat plan proposed by Morgan." Yu Yao first expressed his attitude, and then explained: "But even if the offensive is launched from the front, I think it is still necessary to conduct pre-war reconnaissance in the area to avoid unnecessary casualties."

Tom Wang shook his head and said, "You mean to send a small group of troops into Maolishe's sphere of influence to explore? This is very dangerous. I don't recommend taking such a risk when our side is clearly superior."

"This task can be carried out by my troops." Chen Yixin interjected: "The people under my command are dedicated to this."

The other three people stopped when they heard the words, and turned their eyes to Chen Yixin.The Annant Battalion formed by Qian Tiandun is undoubtedly the trump card unit in the Haihan Army. Its specialty is to fight in the mountainous jungle environment. Although there is only one platoon of troops who went south with Chen Yixin to participate in the military parade of the founding ceremony, but If it is only to perform reconnaissance tasks, the establishment of a platoon is indeed sufficient.

Chen Yixin continued: "As you all know, most of the people I brought back to Sanya this time went to receive awards. These people are experienced fighters who have performed missions in various unfamiliar environments. If you want to I'm going to investigate near the Maoli Club, I think there should be no more suitable candidates than my subordinates here."

In fact, Morgan had considered using Chen Yixin's troops when formulating the combat plan, but the special warfare battalion had always operated independently and only accepted combat orders from the Ministry of Defense, which was not something he could use whenever he wanted.But since Chen Yixin took the initiative to stand up and ask for a fight, Morgan would definitely not object to this proposal.

Wang Tom said: "Considering the current situation of the local natives, I still think that this kind of investigation operation is too risky. If you insist on doing this, then I must make it clear that you cannot lead the team in person. Otherwise, if you What happened, I can't explain to the base camp."

Although in the early years of military operations, the traverser officers would take the lead in leading the battle on the front line, but with the increasing scale of the Haihan Army, fewer and fewer high-ranking traversers came to the front line in person.It's not that they have become greedy for life and afraid of death, but that the role of traversers in the army has gradually changed. Organizing and commanding the huge armed force of the Haihan Army is far more important than going into battle to kill the enemy in person, and Once an accident occurs to a senior officer, it will have a great impact on the entire military deployment of Haihan.

Although Chen Yixin is currently only Qian Tiandun's adjutant, considering his age and future development space, both the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Committee have made him a key training target.Although there is no clear order on this point, the top military officials know that Tom Wang brought Chen Yixin to Miaoli. Although he needs him to play the role of commander in wartime, he absolutely does not want him to carry out field investigations. dangerous tasks.

Chen Yixin still wanted to insist, and Morgan also persuaded: "Don't underestimate the natives here, their fighting will is very firm, we have stayed here for half a month and still dare not be careless, so don't be stubborn anymore. "

After some persuasion from everyone, Chen Yixin finally gave up his plan to go out in person, and handed over the task to his subordinates.Calculating the time, the reconnaissance operation can just allow the large troops who rushed here to rest and prepare for the battle for one to two days, and deduce and improve the combat plan.This operation needs to concentrate more than one battalion's troops to a place twenty miles away from the camp area in a short period of time, and the operation time in the field may last for more than a day, which means that in addition to the combat plan itself, there are also Transportation, supplies, and other logistical arrangements must be made well in advance.

After the combat meeting in the morning, Chen Yixin immediately went to the camp to gather his subordinates, and announced the decision of the headquarters to them: "...the purpose of this scouting mission is to ascertain the surrounding environment of this tribe, and prepare for the follow-up Troops attack and do a good job of intelligence collection. I ask you to avoid fighting with the natives as much as possible, and don’t startle the enemy. But if the situation threatens your own safety, the command authorizes you to make your own decisions and evacuate the area as soon as possible. Your lives are at stake. It’s much more valuable than the natives here, understand?”

Someone asked: "Does it need to be captured alive?"

Chen Yixin said: "Actually, we have already captured many prisoners before we came, but unfortunately we can obtain very limited information from these prisoners, so we need to arrange a reconnaissance operation. So unless you capture one of the elders in this tribe If you are an important person of the same class, there is no need to capture them alive under other circumstances."

"Then when do we dispatch?"

"You set off today evening, and there is still half a day for you to organize your equipment, familiarize yourself with the map, and perfect your plan." Chen Yixin explained to his subordinates: "If your schedule is smooth enough, you can return here before sunset tomorrow. In addition, the local The garrison will dispatch two platoons to meet you on the periphery, but I hope you can show the strength of our special warfare battalion without relying on the strength of friendly troops!"

The soldiers did not seem particularly excited or nervous after listening to the instructions given by Chen Yixin. For them, this kind of task was just a routine. Field infiltration and reconnaissance has always been a fixed training subject of the special warfare battalion in daily operations. Similar tasks have been performed many times in actual combat.And this island of Taiwan is actually no stranger to them. During the operation of the Haihan Army in Taipei last year, the special warfare battalion was also one of the participating troops. Most of them participated in the attack on Danshui and Chicken Cage last year. During the campaign, I stayed in Taiwan Island for nearly three months, and my adaptability to the environment here is even better than the troops from Sanya currently stationed in Miaoli.

As for how fierce the natives here are, it is not a big problem for the soldiers of the special warfare battalion. They know that their strength must be higher than that of the natives. If there is an encounter in the wild, they are sure that their ability is enough Deal with these uncivilized natives.

One platoon of the special warfare battalion has four squads under it. If dozens of people act together, it will be easier to expose their whereabouts.Therefore, Chen Yixin is going to let his subordinates enter the target area in units of squads, but the distance between them should not be too wide, so that they can notify their companions in time when something happens, support each other, and coordinate actions.And doing so can increase the area of ​​investigation, search a larger area in the same time, and improve the efficiency of investigation operations.

According to the map, the area to be scouted and searched this time is about five square kilometers. Fortunately, most of it is plain terrain, which will not consume too much physical strength of the soldiers.Because the purpose of the mission is reconnaissance rather than continuous combat, the individual equipment and combat supplies do not need to be carried too much, and they can keep lightly loaded.The most important issue at the moment is still the choice of marching and retreating routes, one is to ensure the safety of the personnel involved in the operation, and the other is to not leave too many blank areas in the investigation of this area.

After lunch, Chen Yixin called Morgan together, and led several officers under him to map out the marching route.Only Morgan and Yu Yao are relatively familiar with the Miaoli area. Yu Yao is busy arranging the arrival of the troops who just arrived today, so I can only let Morgan explain the situation in this area in detail.

Sun Zhen served as the squad leader in the temporary establishment of going south to Sanya. According to the arrangement of the investigation operation, he will lead a team alone to participate in the operation, so he will also participate in the pre-war preparation meeting.However, for him, he has already participated in a series of combat operations in Taipei and Zhejiang after joining the army, so there is not much tension at all when he receives this mission.

Sun Zhen didn't know why the Ministry of National Defense sent troops to Miaoli, a barren mountain and wild place, to wipe out an indigenous tribe that he had never heard of, but he was sure that after this operation, this land would also be included in the sea. In the land of Han.And one of the missions of the army that Sun Zhen understands is to expand the territory of his country, so he believes that the combat operations against the indigenous tribes in the Miaoli area should also be for this purpose.

Although the set departure time is in the evening, the preparation period for one afternoon is still a little shorter.After Chen Yixin convened everyone to discuss the action plan, it was almost time for dinner, so it was a bit hasty to hurry up and pack up the supplies and equipment.

Sun Zhen felt that he was only sixty percent full, and when he heard the brass whistle of the assembly, he could only sigh at the moment, and poured the remaining half bowl of rice porridge into his mouth, then stuffed a steamed bun and bit it mouth, stood up and signaled his subordinates to prepare to go.However, he knew that dry food was also included in the materials transported to the front line with the ship, so he could fill up a little more on the ship later.

In this reconnaissance operation, in addition to the platoon of the special warfare battalion, there are also two local platoons of the army to provide cover. In addition, considering the full-scale offensive to be launched later, the materials to be transported far exceed the special warfare battalion this time. Amount required for action.For this reason, Yu Yao arranged for two fleets to transport the team and related combat materials, some of which will be transported to the No. [-] stronghold in the upper reaches of Houlongxi for temporary storage, and will be used later when the large forces move.

Soldiers boarded the ship one by one. After getting on the ship, Sun Zhen put down his backpack and rifle, and turned his head to see Chen Yixin and Morgan watching from the pier. It seemed that they were here to see off the expedition troops, so he stood at attention and gave a military salute.

The steam engine blared, and the boatman used pennies to push the tugboat away from the river bank, then adjusted the transmission of the steam engine so that the propeller blades under the water began to rotate, and slowly pushed the tugboat forward to pull the barge behind.I have to say that the noise of this steam barge is very loud, and the movement of this machine can be heard within at least one mile, so in order to ensure that the whereabouts of the scouting troops will not be exposed prematurely, the fleet will not sail far away from Maolishe. The nearest river bank only docked, but before they reached the No. [-] stronghold, they would dock to let them land, and then walk to the target area to perform tasks.

Although the troops participating in the war have to increase the field marching distance by about seven or eight miles, in fact, the marching time will be saved, because if they leave by boat, Longxi passes the river bend of the No. [-] stronghold to the nearest Maolishe If the river bank is located, then it will take about ten miles of water. The land route chosen now is equal to one side of the triangle, and the distance by water is the sum of the other two sides.

Of course, there is another reason that cannot be ignored, that is, the fleet has no way to sail long distances on Houlongxi in the dark, at most they can reach the No. [-] stronghold before dark, and it will definitely be too late to go any further.Even if the fleet ventured upstream, it would be difficult for this force to march inland without revealing its whereabouts after landing.

After traveling for about two hours from the coastal camp, the fleet arrived at the scheduled landing point.As the main force to carry out this mission, Sun Zhen's platoon only needs to bring its own equipment to land and leave, and the follow-up combat materials will be transported by the friendly forces that cooperate with them.

It was around [-]:[-] in the evening, and although the sky hadn't completely darkened yet, the visibility in the field had dropped significantly. If we didn't set off as soon as possible, we might not be able to reach the scheduled area when it was dark.At that moment, Sun Zhen didn't dare to delay, and hurriedly called his subordinates to land and get ready to go.

According to the plan, the team of the Special Operations Battalion will rush to a place about two or three miles away from Maolishe tonight, camp and rest overnight, and will be dispatched tomorrow morning to investigate the surrounding area of ​​Maolishe.But depending on the weather, they must speed up the pace, otherwise they will have to walk in the dark.

In addition to the clothing worn on the body, the current individual equipment of the special warfare battalion also has a large-caliber single-shot rifle using fixed ammunition, a dagger, and officers above the platoon leader will be issued a five-shot revolving cap. pistol.Each soldier has [-] rounds of ammunition in his tactical backpack, one day’s rations, drinking water, and first-aid medicine. Each squad will be equipped with compass, rope, water purification medicine, flint and other items. For operations like today that require camping in the wild, every day The squad must at least bring enough rope hammocks and tarpaulins so that the soldiers can cope with the rainy season environment and survive overnight in the wet field.

After a brief handover with the friendly army in charge of logistics, Sun Zhen's troops quickly marched inland to the south.The natives who are active in the wild at this time should all go back to the tribe. There is nothing interesting in the forest after dark, so the soldiers of the special warfare battalion don’t need to worry about bumping into the natives during the march. After the direction, he moved forward quickly, and the journey of seven or eight miles was completed in a little over an hour.

However, in this jungle where there is no reference and the field of vision is extremely limited, the soldiers can only have a rough judgment of their position through the marching direction and speed. The exact location will not be confirmed until dawn.

(End of this chapter)